Atlanta Showhouse: Couple's Night In

A townhouse designed for a young professional couple with no children

Slide 1 Of Atlanta Showhouse: Couple's Night In

Colleen Duffley

For his space in the Traditional Home showhouse, Atlanta designer Robert Brown created what he calls “more of an evening kind of house.” Colors are muted and “moody,” and fabrics are warm and inviting. “We don’t have a lot of bright colors; everything is very subtle,” he says.

Brown worked with Traditional Home editors and award-winning Atlanta builder Pam Sessions of Hedgewood Properties to create a townhouse for a young professional couple with no children. The residence was one of three townhouses in the Traditional Home Built for Women III Showhouse at Woodstock Downtown, an eco-sensitive and pedestrian-friendly community in the historic town of Woodstock, north of Atlanta. The 32-acre development includes townhomes, flats above commercial space, single-family homes, parks and trails, and retail and office space.

An antique wool rug on the chocolate-stained oak floors defines the sitting area of the living room, which is furnished with a mix of relaxed armchairs, a sofa, and an ottoman. “The living room is not overly formal,” Brown says. “We used feel-good fabrics with a little texture.” To keep a casual attitude, he avoided arranging objects in pairs. “The only pair we have is a pair of lamps.” To make it more inviting, “We wanted to break things up with different pieces of furniture.”

An open staircase to the third level is the architectural centerpiece of the living room, sweeping gracefully along a curved wall lined with tall transomed windows. To exaggerate the windows, putty-colored draperies fall from the ceiling to the floor, where hems are allowed to gently crumple. “I like draperies to break on the floor a bit, so these are a couple of inches longer than floor length,” Brown says. “It makes the room a little more casual—not too stuffy, not too serious.”

A round table nestles into the curve of the staircase, offering a place for keys and mail, and a side chair is covered in a tone-on-tone woven fabric depicting cherry blossom branches.

Because this couple would be at work most days, Brown and his design associate, Lanah Barkley, focused on creating soothing surroundings that would offer refuge in the evenings. “We felt the colors should be restful,” he says. “The walls are pretty much a neutral backdrop for collections of art and interesting shapes in the furniture.”

Brown carried the neutral color palette into the combination family room/kitchen/breakfast room, but he livened things up with a zigzag geometric fabric on a chair and ottoman. “Lanah found this fabric, and it just knocked our socks off,” Brown says. “We’re seeing a lot of geometrics in the marketplace now. The fabric really inspired the whole space.”

The chair and ottoman fabric’s colors—taupe, gold, copper, and chocolate brown—are repeated on furnishings, wood finishes, tiles, and accessories, and the zigzag pattern announces a geometric design theme. “There are geometric designs in the paintings, in the upholstery, and in the horizontal planks on the wall. The room is really a nice study in geometry,” Brown explains. The fireplace was simplified with a sleek quartz stone surround and no mantel. “It’s more clean-looking,” he says.

The LCD-TV from Samsung sits on an adjustable bracket so it can be viewed from multiple areas.

Mocha-colored quartz stone tops a large island that separates the family room from the kitchen’s work zone. A blend of mosaic tiles in warm earth tones adds muted color and pattern to the backsplash wall. Distinctive pendant lights were Brown’s creation: An electrician drilled holes in the bases of inexpensive glass vases and wired them to hold decorative bulbs.

Quartersawn red-oak Plain & Fancy cabinets in two different finishes—natural with black glaze and ebony—give the kitchen a traditional artisan look, while the top row of cabinets with frosted glass doors in aluminum frames lightens the mood. The glass-front cabinets have interior lights on dimmers, so they can be illuminated at various intensities.

A pro-style Thermador range anchors the cooking wall, and a warming drawer and combination convection-microwave oven are set into one of the tall pantry cabinets. A pull-out faucet and deep sink are centered on the island, and Ann Sacks backsplash tiles unify the color scheme. Lutron’s wireless and programmable AuroRa system adjusts light intensities throughout the house to suit different activities, creating ambience and saving energy.

Asian and geometric motifs continue on the third level, where the master bedroom showcases a brown-and-cream fretwork fabric on windows. Walnut furnishings, embroidered bed linens, and ivory-colored walls repeat the color theme and keep the mood relaxed. “This room is very bright. It almost feels like you’re in a tree house,” Brown says.

To create a focal point, he arranged six Chinese etchings in oversized mats and dark brown frames above the sleigh bed. A sea-grass rug underfoot adds texture. “I didn’t want the room to be overly formal,” he says.

The master bath also has a tree-house feel, with multiple windows and views of the town. “You’re up high enough that you can bathe in privacy while looking out over downtown Woodstock,” notes Brown. But to ensure modesty and warmth, windows are covered in Roman shades in the same fretwork fabric as that used in the bedroom. Walls were also upholstered in the fabric, creating an enveloping sense of comfort.

Flexibility was built into the house’s design, with several rooms serving multiple purposes. A daybed in the guest room could be used for overnight visitors or as a cozy spot for the homeowners to read or watch TV. The room’s design echoes that of the master bedroom, with nailheads on the end of the daybed repeating the geometric shapes of the fretwork fabric. A hand-painted cherry blossom wall covering, an Indonesian basket lamp, and other furnishings reflect the Asian inspiration seen in much of the townhouse.

The daybed and side chair are upholstered in Beacon Hill fabrics. A soft cream-toned Shaw rug warms the room, while an antique runner unifies the palette.

Designed for flexibility, a room on the ground level can be used as a home office or as a staging area for buffets and outdoor entertaining. Two sets of French doors open to a patio.

A sophisticated wireless lighting system allows the tech-savvy homeowners to adjust light levels throughout the house via remote controls. The system can be programmed so that a touch of one button can dim or brighten lights in one or more rooms to suit a particular situation—from cocktail parties to a quiet dinner for two. Control plates are color-coordinated to blend inconspicuously into the walls.

The second-level balcony is sheltered by a graceful awning of Sunbrella fabric wrapped on a metal frame.

The residence shares a courtyard with several other townhouses, an arrangement that fosters friendships, Brown says. “This couple might not do a lot of formal entertaining, but I can see friends and neighbors coming over to have a glass of wine. You could open the French doors and sit out in the courtyard every evening. It really is a fabulous community.”

"I love taking classical traditional elements and updating them to make them feel more modern," says Atlanta interior designer Robert Brown. One way he does that is by incorporating contemporary paintings, sculpture, and other art into room settings. "Bob loves contemporary art, especially as a foil for more traditional or transitional settings," says Lanah Barkley, a designer who works with Brown. Art plays such a key role in his projects that he frequently chooses palettes and room arrangements based on a client's collections. In the Traditional Home Built for Women III Showhouse, Brown used paintings as focal points or to add warmth and texture against neutral colors in several rooms. The designer's use of calming backgrounds, edited accessories, and colorful original art makes for rooms that are classic, clean-lined, and invitingly casual.